Love triangles
by SneakyDekuScrub
Summary: One thing leads to the other for gumball and darwin, and darwin finds himself in a love triangle between masami and carrie. And gumball finds himself in a love triangle between rachel and penny. Who will they chose? Please review.
1. Chapter 1 Plans and the break up

Chapter 1: Plans and the Break up

It was a normal day as any other in elmore. During one afternoon in a normal friendly neighborhood, the sun was shining brightly, and in one house there were two young boys half asleep in the backyard, just enjoying the weekend like their hearts depended on it. One was a young blue cat in a tan yellow sweater and black jeans. Beside him was an orange fish with legs and green sneakers. They were resting under a tree out of the bright sun that was beaming from the clear blue sky. They were just having a conversation while relaxed under the shady leaves of the tree. "Come on, Darwin. Aren't you excited over it?" the feline asked his brother.

"And you're not either? Come on, Gumball. I know you're terrified of the ocean," Darwin responded to his older brother Gumball. They were talking about an important event where they were going to be a school field trip tomorrow to the beach, something that was normally planned before summer started. The last day of school before summer was tomorrow and Darwin was feeling nervous over it and was considering not going this year. "I'll be fine, dude. Besides, who will miss this? Lots of fun with our friends and classmates," Gumball tried reassuring his younger sibling.

Darwin thought it over a little bit and sighed, deciding to trust his feline brother, giving a nod of agreement. "Yeah, I guess. By the way, there's also some rumor going through school that Penny's dad is steamed with you. What's that about?" he couldn't help but question the rumor that had been spreading throughout school.

"What? Oh, that me and Penny got stuck in an elevator. She got stuck out past curfew because of it, so her father pretty much wanted to kill me when we got back," Gumball smirked after explaining, remembering the furious look in his girlfriend's father's face. "He sounds unreasonable. I broke up with Rachel last night," Darwin blurted out while they saw a mail truck drive by their home. Gumball raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Why'd you do that?" he asked wondering what motivated him to do that. "I didn't like distracting her from her work. I just didn't like how mad she could get," Darwin looked down depressed from thinking about it.

Awkwardly, Gumball got up and went to the mailbox, leaving his brother in the backyard in his depressed state. He went and opened the mailbox, and he dug through the letters to see one for him and Darwin, which made him raise an eyebrow. He threw the rest of the letters back in the mailbox and went to his aquatic brother to show the letter. "Hey Darwin, we got an invite to a party," Gumball claimed after reading it. It was an invitation to some celebration. His younger brother took the letter in confusion and read it over. "Masami's birthday is in two days?" he asked. They hadn't had gotten any form of letters from this girl before. In fact, he was strongly suspicious that she hated his big brother.

"I guess so. I'm just surprised she invited us" Darwin said. It was a first nonetheless and they were happy with it. Gumball just stretched. "Come on. Let's just get ready for tomorrow," he said knowing the big trip to the beach. Darwin nodded following his older brother inside the house.

After a few minutes, Gumball, while packing his items, heard his cellphone ringing with an oddly cheerful ringtone. He pulled it out and held it up to his ear. "Hello?" he answered. "Hey, Gumball," a girl's voice responded, but it had a dreadful tone to it. "Oh hey, Penny, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly. "Nothing… my father still is upset. I just can't take it anymore, Gumball. I think we should break up," she simply said sounding even more upset than Gumball could expect. "What? Come on, Penny. We've put up with your father for so long! We'll think of some way to get him to like me and ease up," he tried to convince her, but he heard a sigh from his now ex-girlfriend.

"I did, Gumball, and this is it. See you around," Penny finished before hanging up, Gumball just looking at his cellphone with an endless beep from the dial tone. "Hey, what's wrong?" Darwin asked his brother, seeing his energetic attitude suddenly switch into a feeling of despair. "Nothing…" he responded, just continuing to pack his items for the beach trip tomorrow. After another hour passed, Gumball heard the same cheerful ring tone. He wondered what Penny was calling about, but he thought it was unwise to answer just so he could plead for her to take him back. He sighed, and he just ignored the call.

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2 A missed trip

Chapter 2: A Missed Trip

During the next day of school, Gumball was just as depressed as he was the day back. The students were sitting in the cafeteria eating, lunch and waiting for the announcement to tell when it was time to head to the beach. Gumball, however, wasn't in the mood for lunch. He was just at his locker putting items away, not feeling hungry in the slightest, though amongst a few students who passed by, he was hearing murmurs and mutters and small bits and pieces of conversations involving some sort of club on the north end of town that just opened today. Gumball just ignored their conversations from there on, and went to just wander the school to kill time.

Meanwhile, Darwin was just sitting at his table in the cafeteria eating lunch around a couple friends. He couldn't help but overhear their conversation of two girls talking. One of them was the antlered peanut herself, Penny. "You broke up with gumball?" asked another girl, a ghost with her hair covering her left eye with a hair clip shaped like a skull. "No, no, Carrie. I faked breaking up with him to get my father to quit being such a jerk to him, but now he won't answer my calls so I have to tell him the next time I see him," Penny explained to her ghostly friend about her plan on how to get her father to lighten up. Darwin was putting two and two together at this point, now realizing why Gumball was depressed yesterday. He had to tell him next time he saw him.

Half an hour later, Gumball was making his way outside until he heard an announcement over the loudspeakers in the school. "Attention students. We are leaving shortly. Please gather your things and get outside," the principal announced. Gumball could hear a rumbling noise and the ground shaking. He turned around to see a giant tyrannosaurus rushing along with other students that were in a hurry to get outside and onto the bus. Gumball let out a scream before getting stomped by the tyrannosaurs girl, well known in school as Tina. She was an on-and-off friend to the young feline the last thing. Gumball could see was the place he was left in, a crater made from where she had stomped too hard and had crushed him in. He just groaned as began to black out in pain.

After a few hours, Gumball felt himself being shaken awake. "Gumball! Gumball! Are you okay?" He groaned and started waking up. He rubbed his eyes. His body was aching but he had been through worse. When he moved his hands away from his eyes, saw a blue skinned girl with long hair who was wearing a headband. Her hair color faded from yellow to magenta and she was wearing a chartreuse skirt and a white shirt. Gumball gulped as he recognized her as Rachel. He stood up and cracked his back. "H-hey Rachel… ugh… yeah, I'm fine. Just stood in the wrong place at the wrong time," he responded claiming that he was alright but just achy.

"Hey, wait. Shouldn't you be on the bus?" Gumball asked while scratching his head, but Rachel just raised an eyebrow. "I was staying at home since I wasn't feeling to well. The bus was long gone when I got here," she explained. And then it hit Gumball. They had both missed the bus to the beach.

Gumball just kicked the ground, saddened by this fact. However he wondered why no one else had helped him. Perhaps they were in such a rush that they ran over him without notice. "Thanks for the help. So how have you been?" Gumball questioned while following her throughout the hallway of the school to outside. He noticed her not act as aggressive as she used to be, but he guessed that Darwin breaking up with her really took the fight out of her and depressed her. Even then, Gumball was in the same field of emotions as her right now. Being dumped by Penny or at least what he thought happened when he had not known that she had faked it all for him.

"I've been better. I got an after school job the other day at the mini mart," Rachel responded with a yawn while leaving the school. It was somewhat creepy to be in the empty school and at this point they were wondering what they should do. "Congrats on the job, Rachel. I need to get a gift for Masami anyway. Wanna come along?" he offered. Normally he expected her to turn it down, but he was surprised when she agreed to come along. Gumball was just suspicious, presuming that Darwin had taken all of her rage from her or that she had changed over time. Gumball suddenly heard his cellphone ringing with an odd calm ringtone. He knew it was his younger brother, so he pulled out his cellphone out wondering what he wanted.

"Hello?" "Hey, Gumball. Where are you? I don't see you anywhere on the bus," Darwin said in his usual cheerful tone. "I didn't feel like going on the trip. Look, I think I should just go home and get a good sleep," he responded still depressed. Just then he heard a static noise. The call was getting dropped from Darwin being too far away. Gumball just hung up and turned to his older classmate.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rachel questioned if he was still hurting from being stomped on by Tina. Gumball gave her a nod. "Yeah, I'm just a bit down and tired. You see… Penny dumped me," he finally explained why he was down in the dumps. She nodded understanding his problem as they just continued walking heading toward the Elmore City Mall. They both understood each other's pain from their break ups, and they were glad to have each other to cheer up in this situation. After all, things didn't seem to be getting any better for them.

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3 Pranks and a date?

Chapter 3: Pranks and a Date?

Darwin was sitting on the sandy ground of the beach. His classmates and other students were in the water or on the beach, doing various activities it had to offer. Darwin however felt alone, being without his brother to play with. At this point he was just watching his other school friends have their fun without him. "Hey Darwin," he heard and looked over his shoulder to see the ghostly girl which Penny was talking to the past couple of hours. She floated by him relaxing around. She was mainly known for being an emo social floater, the only emo in the school as far as he knew. Darwin was surprised to see her without her hair clip, and seeing her long ghostly hair left him awestruck. He just shook himself out of his trance.

"Oh, hey Carrie" Darwin greeted her, seeing her float beside him. "What are you doing over here?" he questioned since he expected her to be doing something on the beach with the rest of the students. "I got bored. Being able to levitate in volleyball kinda feels a little unfair, and being unable to feel the water is boring," she claimed. She was already bored since she could not do a most of the activity everyone else could do on the beach. He nodded, knowing that being a ghost took most of the fun out of life, but added its own advantages which however couldn't compare at all.

"Why are you here alone?" Carrie asked since she expected him to be the last person to stay away from it all. Darwin sighed looking to the sandy ground and twiddling some of the sand in his hand.

"Gumball stayed behind since Penny dumped him. He's been real sad about it," he explained. It wasn't the same without his older brother being around either. Carrie flicked some of her long hair out of her face. "Wanna go play some pranks?" she offered. Darwin didn't know if he was up to this or not, but he figured that he may as well. He reluctantly agreed, standing up and following her along the beach line to a nearby rental store for surfboards and scuba diver equipment. Carrie floated through the wall and snapped off one of the fins from a gray surfboard, floating back to Darwin while they were standing behind it.

"Got any string?" Carrie asked. Darwin nodded, crouching down, removing his laces from his sneakers and handing them to her. She put the fin on his head and used his shoelaces to tie it down to his head. Once she finished, she grinned and looked at him. "What do I do now?" he asked. Carrie pointed to the water with her fingerless hand. "Just swim around in the water, and make sure only that's sticking out," she said. He nodded just listening to her and heading into the water. Nobody noticed him, and some were too distracted to see him.

Once Darwin was deep enough in the water where his head was right under it, he just did what she had told him and started swimming around. In the meantime Carrie was watching and waiting excitedly from the distance. Soon, somebody noticed the fin and squealed out of deep fear. "Shark!" people shrieked, beginning to flee away from the water upon seeing the fake fin of Darwin's.

Carrie was laughing, seeing everyone screaming and running out of the water. Once she ended her long laughing fit, she saw Darwin walking back to her, having lost the fin from his head and left it in the ocean. "Did I do it right?" he asked. Carrie nodded happily while wiping out the water from her eyes from laughing too hard. "Yeah, great job. Come on, let's go put some seagulls in the changing rooms," she said. The happy Darwin nodded following her there, so far having a lot fun from all the pranks Carrie may have up her sleeve.

Meanwhile, Gumball and Rachel were walking around the mall. They were trying to find a gift for Masami in the meantime, and they found each other talking and enjoying one another's company so far. "So Bobert sent Tobias flying across the classroom, and I swear he smashed straight into Miss Simian so hard, you could hear her rage before she even opened her mouth," Gumball finished explaining a story, making Rachel giggle and snicker. She knew she shouldn't, but couldn't help herself from hearing the story of her younger brother getting beaten up by another classmate unintentionally.

"So, what do you think Masami would like?" Gumball asked. He knew Masami mostly as the daughter of his mother's boss, and she was wealthy, but sadly he didn't know exactly what she wanted for her birthday. Rachel didn't have a well thought idea herself, but eventually they found an item that caught his eye. It was a beautiful, multicolored watch. It was a bit pricy, but as long as she liked it, that didn't matter to him. After buying it and putting it away, he turned his head to his older friend. "Sorry if it was boring hanging out with me," he apologized, but Rachel just shrugged. "Nah, it was fun. Next time, I'll drive us somewhere," she said with a smile curved from her lips.

Gumball nodded in agreement. Rachel had her driver's license, but she wasn't that much older than him, and Gumball himself knew that. "How about that new club tonight then?" he suggested with a smirk while leaving the mall with her. He noticed her get a small blush on her cheeks. "Are… are you asking me out?" she asked. Gumball nodded nervously. "Hehe… yeah… I'll meet you there tonight at eight o'clock?" Gumball asked. Rachel fortunately nodded. "Sounds good. See you there," she told him and walked away, right after they made their plans for a date. The both of them were wondering how it was going to go, but they tried not to think about it so much. They had cheered each other up after their latest relationships ended badly. And just then, they were really excited for tonight.

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4 The date

Chapter 4: The Date

Darwin was making his way back to the bus with the other students. Their day at the beach had at last ended, and Darwin had spent most of the time playing pranks with Carrie. Both had enjoyed seeing everyone's reactions from many of their pranks. "Hey, Darwin," he heard and looked behind him right outside the bus to see Carrie floating there. "You did great with those pranks," she told him. He nodded with a smile. "Thanks a lot for teaching me them," Darwin thanked her with his usual smile back to her.

Darwin climbed onto the bus with her and went to take their seats. She rubbed her arm, having something worming around her mind. "So… do you want to… maybe hang out sometime?" Carrie hesitantly asked, making her friend raise an eyebrow. "Sure, I'd love to," Darwin claimed with his happy tone while going to his seat. Carrie just gave a smile while going to hers.

Meanwhile, Gumball was laying around at home working on batches of unfinished schoolwork. For the whole time while working on it, there was a smile pasted on his face. Something he never really did since he was never thrilled with schoolwork. He was in the living room, which didn't have so much furniture in it, just one table, a big couch and a television. Just then, his younger sister entered the room, a younger pink rabbit in an orange dress. She saw him doing his homework, but what confused her was the joyful expression on him. "Are you okay Gumball?" she asked while sitting beside him.

Gumball raised an eyebrow turning his head to her. "Yeah, I'm fine, Anais. Why'd you ask?" he responded to his sister while finishing his homework and starting to gather it up. "You've never been so happy about anything involving school," Anais claimed. What confused her even more was her expectation to see him with Darwin, but she knew about him missing the school trip that he was normally excited for each year. "Oh yeah, I'm just excited about my date tonight," Gumball claimed. While the conversation kept up it was starting to get late at night. "I thought you were mopey because Penny broke up with you," she claimed in confusion, since she remembered how miserable he had been for a few days.

"Yeah, she did. But that aside, I'm going out with Rachel," Gumball simply said before standing up and stretching. "Speaking of which, I better get going. It's a long walk to where I'm meeting her tonight," he added. He immediately left the room. Anais was just confused, but didn't think on it so much. If her brother was happy about dating Rachel, she didn't mind. She plopped on the couch and grabbed the remote control, turning on the television to watch her favorite program.

For the few minutes, Gumball was walking through the City of Elmore. The street lights were shining brightly above his head while he continued along. It took him over an hour, but he came upon a big neon sign that read RazzJazz. Gumball raised an eyebrow, thinking of it as the nightclub that he heard about many times in school. He hoped it was the right place since it was where he planned to meet Rachel at. As he approached the building, he could hear loud, booming techno rave music from the inside.

Gumball waited patiently outside of the club. Sooner or later, a blue Cadillac pulled over right in front of the building and Gumball. He just looked at the brand new car in admiration until he saw Rachel step out of the driver's side. "Hey, Gumball," she gave a small wave, seeing his eyes widen with wonder on how she got the car. "That's a nice car you have. Where'd you get that?" Gumball questioned once shaking himself out of his awestruck state. "Oh, that? It's my mom's. She got sick of having to share a car with dad, so she went and bought this one the other day," Rachel explained. Gumball nodded knowing what an annoyance it would have been for Rachel's mother. He just smiled while entering the nightclub with his date right beside him.

When Gumball and Rachel entered the club, they saw hordes of people along with flashing lights. It was intensely blinding at first, but their eyes adjusted to it. Gumball looked up to spot a second floor with a set of steps leading up to it. Up there was an area entirely away from the partying people to eat, and most of the people who lost or had no intention to party were up there at the seats. Rachel and Gumball didn't waste a second to stroll up there to get away from the heavy lights. "This sure wasn't what I was expecting for a first date…" Gumball said with a nervous laugh. Funnily enough Rachel gave a nod of agreement. "Yeah… I was expecting a jazz club to be honest," she claimed. The name of the club itself was misleading, so it felt like they were robbed from hearing any sort of jazz music.

Gumball and Rachel just sat at a table at the area which was supposedly labelled the 'Calm Floor'. While waiting for their food to arrive, they were talking over the loud and blaring music. "Maybe you should come over sometime after school," she said while they were just mainly discussing what they could do together.

However, while the conversation kept up, they started to notice the loud music start to wind down and change to a more calm tone. They looked over to the first floor and saw the party calming down and the lighting fixing back to normal. Suddenly, they started to see a man step on a small stage. It was unnoticeable before due to the tons of dancers littering the floor. They were surprised to start hearing the man singing blues music with a harmonica. "Maybe this place isn't so bad after all," Gumball said. He and Rachel were listening to the music playing below, and were just trying to enjoy their first date.

Once Gumball and Rachel finished eating the food, they found themselves dancing to some of the music with the other people in the club, but after a few hours, they made their decision to leave the club whose music kept changing a lot from all types. It was certainly an interesting club to say the least. "This was a great night," she said with a smile. "Yeah, it was. I should probably be getting back home," he said after checking his watch which undeniably read midnight. They had been in the club for quite a while. But before Gumball could take a step away from Rachel, he unexpectedly got a kiss on the cheek from her. His cheeks instantly became crimson as he looked up to her. "See you at school tomorrow," she bid to him before getting back in her car and driving away.

Gumball stood there like a statue. He was awestruck by what he had just witnessed from his date. He rubbed his cheek and smiled as he knew that this smooch was well earned. With that, he made his way back home after a long, great night.

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5 Admittance

Chapter 5: Admittance

During the next day, Gumball was awake early in the morning and eating breakfast by himself. His older brother soon came into the kitchen. "Morning, Darwin," gumball greeted him in his happy tone. "Morning, Gumball. What got you so happy?" he asked but presumed that Penny had finally been able to tell his brother all about the fake break up, and it might have brightened up his day. Darwin had not told Gumball about it himself, though out of fear he wouldn't believe him. "Last night, I had the best date ever," he simply said, remembering the long night at Club RazzJazz with Rachel.

"You were out with Penny?" Darwin questioned while eating some of the cereal, remembering how he was gone when he got home. "Nah, I'm dating Rachel now," Gumball explained surprising his younger brother and choke on his cereal and spit it out. "Dude! You're dating my ex?!" Darwin shouted in shock. It already hit his head. Penny's plan had backfired big time. Gumball raised an eyebrow at his younger sibling's reaction to the news. "Well yeah. Why?" he wondered what the problem was with him doing it, but Darwin just let out a sigh deciding not to brag about what would be an inevitable problem for his older brother.

"Nothing, congrats dude. Let's just get to the bus stop," Darwin responded. Gumball just ignored the strange incident and nodded, leaving their home and heading to the bus stop. The young goldfish was having a bad feeling about today.

While riding on the bus, Gumball was just playing a handheld device famously known as the Gameboy in order to pass the time while the bus was picking up the other students. Darwin was sitting beside him at the back of the bus like they normally did. "Hey, Darwin," he heard and looked over to see Carrie peeking her head over the seat in front of them. "Oh hi, Carrie," Darwin gave a small wave. Gumball was too distracted by his game. "I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere after school?" she asked. The goldfish just scratched his chin wondering about it since he remembered her asking to hang out with him after their pranking fun on the beach.

"Well, me and Gumball are going to Masami's party, so… you wanna come with us?" Darwin offered with his cheerful tone. The ghostly girl thought it over for a second. She didn't really mind going to parties, since usually she was intensely embarrassed whenever she was thrown one. "Sure why not," Carrie agreed while acting weird around him. Gumball noticed this and gave a raised eyebrow before leaning over to his brother. "Dude, I think Carrie likes you man. I mean, she really likes you," Gumball whispered but Darwin had the urge not to believe him. "No way, are you sure about that? She isn't into me in the slightest. I don't think we're true friends either," he whispered back but they both just stayed silent from there on. Darwin presuming that carrie only wanted to hang out together.

Later that day in school, Gumball was sitting in class while Miss Simian was grading papers. He suddenly felt something poke at the back of his head. It was a paper plane that landed beside him. He leaned over to pick it up and open it in his lap.

Gumball saw the paper plane morph into a note from somebody. "Hey, Gumball. I need to talk with you at lunch. From Penny." He wondered what she wanted with him since he figured that she would avoid him at all possible times right after the breakup was made. He tried not to think or dwell on that breakup since it already saddened him, but he tried not to think about it as he heard the bell ring. The class was now over, so he just got up and left the classroom right away.

Gumball was at his locker until he saw Darwin come by. "Hey, bro. How'd history class go?" Gumball asked him. His younger brother however shrugged. "Not too well. So, what did you get Masami for her birthday?" he asked. It was lucky for the both of them since their lockers were side by side. Gumball dug around in his locker, pulling out a small wrapped box for him. He lifted up the top of the box, showing the watch. "I bought her this. What'd you get her?" he spoke. Darwin gently dug out something from his backpack. "I made her this," he said, pulling out a multicolored rose made out of glass. It may as well of held a crafted rainbow within each petal, showing how colorful they were. "Whoa… dude, how did you make that?!" Gumball asked amazedly. He thought about how much she will like the gift. It was entirely certain that she will.

Darwin put it away in his backpack to keep it safe from everyone else. "Bobert helped me," he simply said, referring to another classmate that assisted him. "Hey, Gumball," they suddenly heard. He turned his head to see Penny standing there. He gulped, but when he looked over his shoulder, Darwin was nowhere to be seen. He had vanished from his spot in an instance. It upset him, but he made a guess. Either he had made a run for it or had hidden away in his locker.

Gumball gulped and faced Penny. "H-hey, Penny," he hesitantly greeted her. "I need to apologize for upsetting you. And I need to explain something else," Penny started, making Gumball raise an eyebrow. "I faked the breakup to get my father to leave us alone. I'm sorry I was unable to tell you sooner, I just couldn't get you to answer my calls," she apologized, explaining the situation and what had occurred. She attempted to hug him, something he used to love receiving from her. She was surprised when the young feline stopped her, moving the palm of his paw right in front of her. "Listen, I'll be your friend, but I can't be your boyfriend again. You see, I'm dating Rachel," Gumball responded. He was blocked from believing her, and instead had thoughts that she was making up the story after regretting breaking up with him.

"You're what?!" Penny shrieked. She was fuming, and that was far beyond obvious as her voice rang out in rage to everyone in the near vicinity and had made them run for it. "Please, don't make this any harder than it already is. I'll admit. I used to have a big crush on you, even before we started dating, but now… you're different. You're not the Penny I first knew," Gumball responded. With that spit out and out of the way, he closed his locker, picked up his backpack and walked away. Penny was left standing there. Enraged, but at the same time, heartbroken. She could guess that he didn't believe anything she said, and just then she thought about it. She had to get him back together with her.

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6 The birthday party

Chapter 6: The Birthday Party

Later in the day, school was now over and Rachel was standing outside of school waiting for Gumball since they had planned to head to Masami's birthday party together. "Hey!" a noise pierced right into Rachel's ears as she looked to her side. Penny was standing there looking infuriated from her earlier conversation with her now ex-boyfriend. "Oh, hey Penny. What's up?" Rachel greeted her. She thought it was good to have someone to talk to while waiting, but at the same time she wondered what she wanted. "You… you stole my boyfriend!" Penny let out her outburst. This surprised Rachel, but she just brushed it off, trying to understand it a lot more.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down. What are you talking about?" Rachel questioned confusedly not completely sure about what she meant. "I'm talking about Gumball. You stole him from me!" Penny said still enraged but her older peer just raised an eyebrow. "What? Sorry, but if I recall you dumped him..." she tried to correct the angry antlered girl but with no avail. "That was a fake break up to get my father to leave him alone!" Penny explained further. It was the truth behind why she did it, but the situation alone was getting more confusing by the second.

"Even if you are telling the truth what do you want from me?" Rachel asked. Like Gumball, she somehow didn't believe her either. To her, it felt like a quick lie she had made up to get the blue cat back together with her. "I want you to dump him so he'll get back together with me," Penny declared while somewhat calming down.

Rachel just gave a raised eyebrow and couldn't help but snicker. "You're joking, are you? You had your chance with him, but unfortunately, you ruined it," Rachel started. She could already see the anger flare up in the young cheerleader while turning to her, a smirk creeping across her face. "Have you ever considered what Gumball actually wants? He wants someone who's actually mature. Let's face it. You're nothing more than a little baby girl, and I'm a woman," she finished. This only made Penny snap and storm off after being insulted. That was the thing with Rachel which she always saw herself as. She was older and she saw most of her younger classmates as babies. She had lightened up a lot on that since she met Gumball and Darwin, but part of her problem had still shown a lot.

Another dozen of minutes passed, and at last, Rachel saw Gumball, Darwin and Carrie arrive. "Sorry for making you wait. Carrie was showing us an awesome trick," Darwin said while Gumball was just carrying his gift for Masami. "It's alright. Ready to get going?" Rachel asked. She was pondering if she should tell Gumball about what she just went through with Penny. "You know it," the young feline happily said. The four began making their way to another part of town, Carrie just staying silent for the most part as she had nothing to say. It wasn't out of the ordinary to keep to herself and stay quiet. Darwin on the other hand kept pondering the suggestion Gumball had made about the ghostly girl liking him in more ways, rather than just being friends.

"Hey uh, Carrie?" he said, grabbing her fingerless hand and letting Rachel and Gumball go on ahead. They could catch up afterwards. "What?" she asked wondering what the young goldfish wanted with her. "I need to ask you something. What did you mean by hang out?" Darwin questioned, his usual cheerful tone somewhat going into a bit of a serious voice, something which was rare for him. "I dunno, like… go somewhere and hang out," Carrie didn't really know how to explain her current feelings to him. "…Like a date?" he suddenly blurted out without missing a beat. He saw the ghostly girl get a small blush right on her snow white face. "I guess so… yeah…" she hesitantly answered, but this just made Darwin nervous. It confirmed what Gumball said back on the bus.

"A-alright. That's cool," Darwin said not sure how to really respond, but he thought to himself. If it was a date, then he had to take her somewhere she liked. Suddenly he had an instant idea on where to go with her. "Why don't we go to the graveyard up town after the party?" he offered. This surprised her since she didn't expect him to offer to go to any places like that. Normally Darwin hated them ever since one incident on Halloween, but he figured it wouldn't be so bad in the daylight.

When they arrived to Masami's house, they could see tons of other students inside and in the back yard, so far enjoying the party. Gumball and Rachel soon saw Masami talking to some of her friends.

She was a rich white cloud, due to the fact that her father owned the factory where Gumball's mother worked at. He hadn't been exactly good friends with her. In fact he suspected that she hated him a lot. "Happy birthday, Masami," Gumball said coming up to her while holding his gift, interrupting the conversation on her at the same time. "Oh hey, I'm glad you made it," Masami greeted him. Rachel had gone with some of her friends nearby. Without delay, Gumball presented his gift to her. "Rachel and I got this for you," he claimed. She took it, wondering what he possibly had gotten for her while opening it. A smile popped up in a heartbeat as she saw the watch, not hesitating to put it on her.

"Thanks a lot, Gumball. It's pretty," Masami told him not expecting much at all, but this was a pleasant surprise. Gumball just rubbed the back of his head, letting her get back to talking with her friends while he went to the backyard to join the rest of the party. The party in that backyard was pretty big, and he could see a table of food and a drink bowl. Gumball was surprised by how many people actually showed up to the party.

It didn't take long for Darwin and Carrie to catch up. The goldfish walked towards Masami, hiding the glass rose behind his back. "Hey, Masami," he greeted her catching her attention. "Happy birthday," Darwin said, showing the glass rose to her. Seeing each colorful glass petals made Masami's eye widen in utter surprise. She took it with a big smile on her cloudy face. "Wow! I love it, Darwin!" she claimed while holding it. He was glad to know that she liked the gift. "That's great. I made it myself," he said before happily walking away to join the rest of the party.

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7 Realization

Chapter 7: Realization

The party had lasted for quite a while for Gumball and his brother, but the young blue kitten was now heading home by himself. Darwin stayed behind, although it was late at night. The party was fun while it lasted, but he couldn't help but have a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, telling him that something wasn't right. He started to hear his cellphone ringing. He knew it was Darwin calling due to the familiar ringtone. He flipped it open and put it up to his ear. "Hello?" he answered. "Hey, Gumball… Something's wrong," Darwin responded but sounded like he was whispering and sounding afraid.

"Darwin? Dude, what's wrong?" Gumball questioned wondering if something happened at Masami's party. "I'm just hiding away in our room. At Masami's party, Tobias accidently ruined her homework so I gave her mine, and then she asked if I wanted to go on a date. The next thing I know, she and Carrie got into a fight, so I ran away," Darwin explained. He was now currently hiding in their bedroom in a horrendously scared state. Gumball couldn't help but snicker, wishing he had been there to see it. A ghost fighting a cloud, something he bet was that one ridiculous scenario to happen in his lifetime. "Calm down, Darwin. I'll be home in a bit anyway," he tried to reassure his younger brother before hanging up.

Gumball was starting to question what was going on lately, but he suddenly had a thought occur to him. He remembered how infuriated Penny was with Rachel and him which worried him. Perhaps a similar situation was occurring for him as well. He pulled out his cellphone and dialled Rachel's number. He listened to the ringing noise and tried to get an answer. "Hello?" "Hey, Rachel. Listen, I need to ask you something. Has Penny done anything weird?" Gumball asked. He had to find out for himself. However to his misfortune he heard the answer. "Yeah. She tried to talk me into dumping you, just so you could get back with her or something. Trust me, she was steamed," she explained regarding the fight she had with Penny earlier in the day. Gumball smacked his paw on his face.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow Rachel," Gumball hung up while arriving to his home and heading up to his room, walking right past his father and Anais who were just sitting on the couch watching television. "Gumball, honey," he heard and saw his mother, another blue cat that wore a white shirt and a short light gray skirt, as well as a rainbow button on her shirt that symbolized the rainbow factory where she worked in. "Yeah, mom?" Gumball stopped in his tracks halfway up the stairs. "Is something going on with Darwin? He wasn't acting right," Nicole asked wondering if everything was alright. Her son shook his head, lying and saying that everything was fine before continuing to their room. He didn't have the intention to get his mother involved with his and Darwin's problem anyway.

When Gumball got to their room, he saw Darwin lying around. Their room was fairly small, and had a bunk bed with a fish bowl beside it. Gumball came over, still feeling tired from the long day. "Dude, are you okay?" he questioned Darwin. The goldfish nodded.

"Yeah. I just panicked and left the party in the middle of the fight," Darwin said with a sigh of worry. Gumball sat on his bed, scratching his chin and trying to figure out what to do. "Turns out I'm having the same kind of problem," he said with a sigh. He was in a heap of trouble with Penny and Rachel, just like how Darwin was with Carrie and Masami. Kindness coming back as karma was what Gumball classified, and Darwin's troubles under misfortune was what he called his own problem, that or his usual trail of bad luck.

Gumball and Darwin waited around, thinking trying to figure out a way to deal with their massive problem. They suddenly heard a knock on the door and saw their mother enter the room. "Dinner's ready. …what's the matter, boys?" Nicole questioned. Seeing their expressions made her worry so much for her two sons. Gumball and Darwin looked at each other. They didn't want to go to their mother for this kind of advice, but if felt like she was one of the few people left that could actually help. "Mom… have you ever had a girl that fought with you over dad?" Gumball awkwardly asked. Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, there was one girl, but your father was kind of blind to it. Right after she met the quarterback, she forgot about us entirely," she said. She let out a sigh after looking back on those memories.

"Well, we're kinda having problems. A few friends of ours are like that too. What should we do?" Gumball pleadingly asked, hoping she could have any sort of useful advice. "…just give them a chance to go out with them. Then you can see who you have the most feelings for," Nicole explained the simple answer for them.

Darwin and Gumball looked at each other before letting out a groan of irritation. They felt senseless for not knowing about this. They had their palms smacked onto their own face simultaneously. Their mother just giggled at them, and they all went downstairs to eat dinner with their family.

End of Chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8 Gumball's date

Chapter 8: Gumball's Date

It was the weekend, and Gumball and Darwin were trying to think of what they could do on their planned dates. They were taking up their mother's advice, but if that didn't work, Darwin was working on a backup plan to transfer to a school to the town neighboring Elmore City called Little Lamplight. "Why are you doing this for her anyway, Gumball? I thought you said Penny was lying to you," Darwin questioned. His older brother sighed. "Well I figured. The date Rachel and I had wasn't exactly the most romantic I've had in my life, so I'd see what romance would be like with Penny," he claimed. However, really he had already told Rachel the plan and she was perfectly fine with it.

"So where do you plan to take her?" Darwin asked while he was still planning out his date with Masami. "I have no idea, really. I can't ask mom or dad about that either," Gumball claimed, doubting either of them would know a whole lot about romance. "Why don't you ask Anais?" his younger brother suggested. The feline just raised an eyebrow, not sure if it was the best idea, but his date was in two hours and he didn't really know who else to go to anyway. He went upstairs to see if his young sister could help him.

Gumball arrived to his little sister's room and knocked on the open door. "Oh, hey Gumball," Anais greeted him with her attention caught. "Hey, can I ask you something?" Gumball asked as he came inside and sat down on her bed. "If it's to help mow the lawn…" she mumbled irritated since Gumball usually slacked off whenever here was a chore to be done.

"N-no, no, I wanted to ask if you could help me on my date. I don't know a lot about romance," Gumball claimed. Despite the date Gumball and Rachel had, he had little experience with romance, or how to create a romantic atmosphere. Anais just sighed. She was the smartest out of her siblings, or at least smart enough to put any form of thought before acting it out. "Alright, first of all, go get your tuxedo," the young rabbit ordered. Gumball nodded and went into his room to put it on.

It only took a few minutes for Gumball to come back with a red tuxedo on him, with the bowtie done in a messed up knot. Anais scratched her chin, and she went over and pushed a chair in front of him. She climbed on top of it, fixing his bowtie around his neck. "There. Now you look nice," she said, but Gumball didn't like it too much. He had one last problem he needed to consider. "Where should I take her?" Gumball asked. His younger sister scratched her head while trying to help out her older brother, for hopes that he could help her when she needed it. "A nice plain dinner at a fancy restaurant, simple as that," the young bunny explained.

Gumball nodded, finally understanding what to do now. He liked the sound of it as if he had a good vision of it happening now. He was hoping not to think about messing up on his date. He looked at the time and knew he had to go now, or he will be late. "Oh, and get her a flower as well!" Anais shouted while Gumball was dashing out the door. "Thanks, Anais!" his voice echoed before he ran downstairs and out of the house.

Along the way, Gumball stopped and grabbed a rose. He had his sister's advice written on his head and hoped that nothing will cause any problem or screw up. Otherwise their mother's advice to him and Darwin will have one down the drain. He was running along through the streets and panting, that is until he finally met up with the antlered ex-girlfriend. He was tired, wheezing and gasping for breath. Once he caught his second wind he greeted her. "Hey, Penny." "Hey, Gumball. …you look nice," Penny complimented his outfit. It was undeniably fitting for him.

"Oh, y-yeah, thanks," Gumball responded nervously while pulling out the rose and offering it to her. "I-I got you this," he claimed. Penny smiled, happily taking the rose from him as he began to lead her away to the precise location of where he had planned to take her for their date. "So where are we going?" she asked while following him along and holding his hand along the way. "T-the Cambria Parlor," Gumball said. The name itself sounded odd to both him and Penny, but she had heard of that place before. It was a fancy restaurant and it was usually full of people as a result of the high quality it had.

Once they arrived to the restaurant, they saw the entrance doors and the large neon sign on it, its name shining brightly even in the daytime. They entered inside, and they could see the white walls with carvings of pictures into them, along with the marble flooring under their feet. It seemed like their lucky day since not many people were there, so they were led to a table in a breeze. "Sorry about the way I was acting. I reacted horribly to… well… everything," Penny apologized with a sigh of regret.

"N-no, no, it's fine," Gumball said as he knew one thing. Penny had already known the reason behind this date as well. It was to decide who he had the most feelings for. So far, it felt like trying to make a house of cards at gunpoint, tons of different emotions and none of them feeling right in any particular way.

From there on out, they just began talking, telling funny stories over what had happened at school with each other. They were laughing and having a good time so far. Gumball was feeling the same like back when they were first dating. Before they even knew it a whole hour had passed. "This was really great, Gumball," Penny said while leaving the restaurant with Gumball beside her. "Yeah, it was. I'll see ya later," Gumball told her about to leave, but Penny stopped him in order to try and kiss him, but before she could attempt to do such, he stopped her. "Sorry, but not now... I need to think about it a lot right now. I'll see you at school in Monday," Gumball said. Penny nodded understanding and walked away.

End of Chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9 Darwin and carries date?

Chapter 9: Darwin and Carrie's Date?

It was late that night, and Gumball was lying on his bunk bed, staring up at the top bunk and thinking to himself over his situation. He was trying to pick between Penny and Rachel. He was lost in his own thoughts to the point where he ignored practically everyone. He had a tough decision with Rachel. He had fun and felt alive, and he knew that it was going to be hard for their love to die out. He was worried that if the romance ran out, then it may not work out with Penny.

Darwin in the meantime was leaving the house, just after leaving a note on the refrigerator to inform his family about him being "Gone for the night." He left immediately after, with something special planned in his mind. He knew that his family wouldn't mind him being gone for the night as well.

Darwin kept on walking through the dark streets of Elmore City, the only lights being from businesses that operated at night and the streetlights shining overhead. He walked along until he arrived to an old demolished house which hadn't been inhabited for a long time. The young goldfish gulped nervously while knocking on the old door, and pretty soon he saw the ghostly girl he was meeting up with float through the door. It scared Darwin, but he tried to stay calm. "H-hey, Carrie. Ready to go?" Darwin greeted her nervously. "Yeah, tonight should be fun," Carrie said with her usual enthusiasm, or in other words, her lack of enthusiasm.

Darwin looked at the ghostly girl. He was going out with her tonight, and yet he was feeling very worried. He was wondering what she wanted to do and questioning how the date would go for the both of them. "So w-what do you want to do?" he questioned. Carrie pondered the question for a bit before letting out a grin. "How about the rock concert across town," Carrie suggested. This however made him regret asking this. Darwin didn't like concerts so much, but he nodded. It was just a concert for an unknown band which he had no memory about. He went along with it, following his current date to another part of town.

While walking through the streets, they could hear loud music that only got louder and louder the further they went. "We're almost there," Carrie claimed, and just soon, Darwin saw the bright lights and a gathering of people at a concert. The music made Darwin's ears want to burst into broken drums, but he tried to put up with it for the sake of his date. Darwin noticed a booth which he had to pay to get in, and sadly there was a sign on it. 'Sold Out.' This disallowed anyone else in there since it was already filled up in here. "Darn! Now what do we do?" he asked, but he didn't receive a response. Instead, he got possessed by Carrie who then used his body to run around the side and hop over a fence.

Once Carrie left his body, Darwin gave an annoyed glare for being possessed without approval, but he sighed since they were now in the concert either way. "So uh, you like this kind of music?" Darwin asked while going through a crowd with Carrie beside him, while he checked his watch that indicated that it was now two o'clock at midnight.

"Yeah, I kinda like it," Carrie admitted while they went through the crowd. On the stage were a trio of long haired greased up people; one screeching into the microphone like a screaming banshee, one stringing on an electric guitar, and a drummer who was the only one being slightly normal. The singer screamed out his lines which did not seem to have any form of melodious tone. "To error is human! To forgive is divine! Well I'm not forgiving any error or mine!" The first lyrics kept on repeating like it wasn't a big deal. Darwin was slightly annoyed by it, but he found his mind drowning it out. Carrie was not enjoying it too much either.

They spent roughly an hour listening to the rambled sentences that were proclaimed as singing. At last, they left themselves at the precise point of three O'clock, and Darwin was questioning the successfulness of this date, but he had a sudden idea. The fact that the rainbow factory was nearby he hoped to see Carrie go along with his idea. "Hey Carrie, why don't we go play a big joke?" he started, making the ghostly girl's eyebrow climb up a notch. "Hehe, sure. We may as well make tonight interesting. What do you have in mind?" Carrie asked. Normally the young goldfish never came up with ideas that involved any form of pranking, but now was the first time for him to plan and pull one off.

Darwin led the ghostly girl to the Rainbow Factory which was a few blocks down the hill. "I say we set everything to make gray colors instead," Darwin instructed. Carrie liked this plan so far, and she knew it was going to cause a panic of a lifetime. She laughed while following him along. Once they got to the factory, they went around to the emergency exit to see a guard patrolling around.

"You know what to do," Darwin told her pointing to the keys on the guard's side. With these they could get in through the front door. Carrie nodded and she flew over to the guard, possessing his body and starting to control him. She followed her current date to the entrance and unlocked it, staying in the body as they entered inside. Sooner or later, they had accomplished the task. They came here for to make the Rainbow Factory now act as a Gray Factory. Carrie locked the entrance door back before exiting the guards body, leaving him standing there zoned out for a small period of time.

"It was fun tonight, Carrie," Darwin said starting to see the dawn of the early morning. "Yep. I'll see you at school. By the way maybe you should run before the guard gets his mind back," Carrie forewarned him before flying away. Darwin took her advice and took off like a speeding bullet, making his way back home, because in a few hours, he had to go on a date with Masami.

End of Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10 The decision

Chapter 10: The Decision

Tomorrow afternoon, Gumball was bored and lost in his deep thoughts. He was sitting at the kitchen table doing a jigsaw with dozens of pieces. It was something he normally hated, but this time he needed something normal and calm instead of his usual hobbies he could do when wanting to be distracted. "So you still haven't made up your mind yet?" Anais asked. Gumball shook his head. "Nope. It's just too hard to choose," he claimed while rubbing his head. Darwin suddenly entered the kitchen looking upset.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Gumball asked his goldfish brother, wondering what exactly happened to break his cheerful demeanor. "Masami didn't show up for our date," Darwin explained confusedly. "Well why don't you call her? Something might have happened," Anais suggested. He nodded and went to grab the phone off the receiver on the wall, dialing her number right away.

"Hello?" Masami answered. "Hi, Masami, it's me. I was wondering where you were. I waited like three hours for you," Darwin asked, and just then, he was given a reaction he didn't expect. "What the heck do you think?! You were in the Rainbow Factory last night and just watched while a guard tampered with the machines!" Masami yelled referring to the guard Carrie had possessed last night. The cloud girl was infuriated because Darwin did nothing to stop the guard. That's what she believed anyway.

"What do you mean? H-how do you know?" Darwin responded. "There are security cameras. What else? You won't get into any trouble, but seriously, I thought you were a lot better than that," Masami said before slamming her phone on the receiver and hanging up on him. Gumball and Anais were looking at their sibling. "So uh… what'd she say?" Gumball wondered aloud. "I don't wanna say why. All I know is that I now don't have to choose between her and Carrie," he simply said. With that he put his smiley face back on and happily went off upstairs. He was free to just go with Carrie, and that was all that mattered to him now.

"Why do you have to date anybody?" Anais asked. It was always confusing to her but she was always told that it was something she will understand when she became as old as Gumball and Darwin. However, this gave Gumball a great idea. "Anais, that's it!" he exclaimed, tightly hugging his youngest sibling tight before taking off. He was running somewhere with blazing speed with an idea stuck in his head. Anais had an eyebrow climb up the peak of her forehead, but she shrugged it off. She quickly finished the puzzle for Gumball and walked away, leaving it on the table.

During the next day, school was over and Darwin was digging around in his locker. "So, Masami was steamed right?" he heard, spotting Carrie floating beside him. He nodded with a grin. "Yep, more furious than you could imagine," he claimed with his happy tune. Carrie wrapped her arms around him. "So you wanna go hang out in the graveyard tonight?" she asked. Darwin nodded, accepting to walk to there with her on his side. To him, it felt like he was having a date with her.

Darwin was glad about what was going on today. He didn't have to decide between her or Masami anymore because of how stressed his older brother was. "Who did gumball pick?" Carrie couldn't help but think aloud in curiosity. Darwin didn't really know either but he could see Penny approaching his big brother who was distracted by his own locker. "Hi, Gumball," he turned around to see Penny standing behind him. Oddly enough, Gumball was acting cheerful. "Hey, Penny. Listen, I need to tell you something," he claimed. Penny gave a confused look to him. She thought that she might have been chosen instead of Rachel, but it could have been anything else.

"What is it?" Penny asked while holding her backpack over her shoulder. "I've decided not to date until I mature myself. Let's face it. I'm a kid, and you have more important things to do in school, like cheer leading. So maybe when we both get to high school, I'll tell you who I'm gonna pick. So until then… friends?" Gumball explained and suggested his offer. He doubted that he would make the correct decision, so he had to wait until he grew up. He held out his hand to her. Penny looked at it for a second and understood what he meant by this. She took his hand in her grip and gave a smile. "Alright…" she agreed. She may have ruined their relationship while trying to get her father to leave them alone, but they were able to just be friends, and she just left it at that. With that she turned away from Gumball and headed to her locker. Planning to leave it up to time for him to decide.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to make that choice," Darwin said while he approached Gumball with Carrie beside him. The young feline rubbed the back of his head. "Well what can I say? …I'll see you guys later. I gotta go… do something," Gumball claimed, giving a small wave to them and walking away from them. He went down the hall after throwing his backpack in his locker.

Gumball walked into the school parking lot, a devious smile creeping across his face. "Did you do it?" he heard, finding Rachel standing there and having waited for him beside her mother's Cadillac. "Hehe, yep. I pulled off the lie, and there was no slip up whatsoever," Gumball responded. He climbed onto the passenger's side and Rachel got into the driver's side and started up the car. Nobody else knew, but he had lied to everybody at the school about not dating anybody. The truth of the matter was, he was staying with Rachel, and so far he was not regretting his decision.

"So it's agreed. We'll date in secret?" Rachel asked. Gumball nodded actually liking the thought. After all they could just lie later on that they're dating when they want. Gumball then got a bright crimson blush splashed on his face when she kissed him before reversing out of the parking lot and beginning to drive away from the school to go on another date. Gumball just lay back and relaxed on his seat, glad that everything was back to normal. Even if he was lying to everybody about dating Rachel, things were at least fine for him and Darwin for the time being. Gumball prayed that it will stay that way, and hopefully it will.

The End...


End file.
